GA GA - Carlene Tengelsen, 16, Macon, 21 June 1972

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My name is Holly, and I'm from Athens, GA, about 2 1/2 hours North of Macon. I'm a criminology student and currently researching the Carlene Tengelsen case as a side project. I requested any newspaper articles from the Washington Memorial Library archives in Macon. Only 2 articles were found, but I believe I have made a discovery. One of the articles sent to me was an article on three missing Macon women, including Carlene Tengelsen. The other two women were Mary "Maggie" Shaw and Peggy Chapman along with Peggy's 4 year old daughter Ruby Kirshner. These 4 all went missing within a month and a half of each other. Carlene and Peggy/Ruby all went missing from Westgate Mall. Carlene on June 22, 1972 and Peggy/Ruby July 22, 1972 . Mary went missing from South Plaza Shopping Center on June 5, 1972. Both of these places are on the same street (Pio Nono Ave). Westgate Mall and South Plaza Shopping center are only (according to google maps) 1.3 miles from each other. This is very strange to me and seems like there's a possible connection. We know Carlene has never been found, but I can find no other information anywhere on the internet of whether Peggy/Ruby/Mary were found. They are not mentioned anywhere on the internet or in missing persons databases I've searched. I hoping someone here can answer this. I've attached a copy of the whole newspaper with the date, and a zoomed in copy of the article on the 3 women. Any further information is much appreciated.
 

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Hollybeth328 said:
My name is Holly, and I'm from Athens, GA, about 2 1/2 hours North of Macon. I'm a criminology student and currently researching the Carlene Tengelsen case as a side project. I requested any newspaper articles from the Washington Memorial Library archives in Macon. Only 2 articles were found, but I believe I have made a discovery. One of the articles sent to me was an article on three missing Macon women, including Carlene Tengelsen. The other two women were Mary "Maggie" Shaw and Peggy Chapman along with Peggy's 4 year old daughter Ruby Kirshner. These 4 all went missing within a month and a half of each other. Carlene and Peggy/Ruby all went missing from Westgate Mall. Carlene on June 22, 1972 and Peggy/Ruby July 22, 1972 . Mary went missing from South Plaza Shopping Center on June 5, 1972. Both of these places are on the same street (Pio Nono Ave). Westgate Mall and South Plaza Shopping center are only (according to google maps) 1.3 miles from each other. This is very strange to me and seems like there's a possible connection. We know Carlene has never been found, but I can find no other information anywhere on the internet of whether Peggy/Ruby/Mary were found. They are not mentioned anywhere on the internet or in missing persons databases I've searched. I hoping someone here can answer this. I've attached a copy of the whole newspaper with the date, and a zoomed in copy of the article on the 3 women. Any further information is much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Welcome to Websleuths Holly. We're glad to have you here.

I believe you made an interesting discovery.

There are two ways that you might be able to get more info from the Macon newspapers.

First, check online to see if the Macon newspaper has an news index where you can do online searches by subject and date for news articles. Most major newspapers have news indexes that you can search online.

Second, if the Macon newspaper does not have an news index that you can search online, you may want to call the Macon newspaper and ask for their news reference desk.

The news reference desk is the archive desk that should be able to tell you if there were any additional news articles were written about the other missing women.
 
I came across another thread on Websleuths about another female from Georgia that went missing under similar circumstances that Carlene Tengelsen, Peggy Chapman and her daughter Ruby, and Maggie Shaw went missing.

The other missing female is Nancy Stewart Wilke, 20, who disappeared on August 12, 1967 in Waycross, Georgia.

Nancy Stewart Wilke was married and she was an employee at the Pic 'N' Save grocery store in Waycross.

Nancy went home after finishing her shift at the grocery store on August 12, 1967. Nancy later returned to the grocery store to shop.

After a bag boy helped Nancy carry out her groceries to her car, Nancy locked her purse in her car and returned to the store to check her work schedule.

Nancy was never seen again after she left the grocery store.

Nancy's car was found parked in the grocery store parking lot with her groceries and purse inside her car.

Nancy Stewart Wilke has a thread on Websleuths and her case is listed with Doe Network.

Nancy Stewart Wilke

GA - GA - Nancy Stewart Wilke, 20, Waycross, 12 Aug 1967

Nancy Stewart Wilke - 3412DFGA

The Doe Network: Nancy Stewart Wilke - 3412DFGA
 
Hollybeth328 said:
My name is Holly, and I'm from Athens, GA, about 2 1/2 hours North of Macon. I'm a criminology student and currently researching the Carlene Tengelsen case as a side project. I requested any newspaper articles from the Washington Memorial Library archives in Macon. Only 2 articles were found, but I believe I have made a discovery. One of the articles sent to me was an article on three missing Macon women, including Carlene Tengelsen. The other two women were Mary "Maggie" Shaw and Peggy Chapman along with Peggy's 4 year old daughter Ruby Kirshner. These 4 all went missing within a month and a half of each other. Carlene and Peggy/Ruby all went missing from Westgate Mall. Carlene on June 22, 1972 and Peggy/Ruby July 22, 1972 . Mary went missing from South Plaza Shopping Center on June 5, 1972. Both of these places are on the same street (Pio Nono Ave). Westgate Mall and South Plaza Shopping center are only (according to google maps) 1.3 miles from each other. This is very strange to me and seems like there's a possible connection. We know Carlene has never been found, but I can find no other information anywhere on the internet of whether Peggy/Ruby/Mary were found. They are not mentioned anywhere on the internet or in missing persons databases I've searched. I hoping someone here can answer this. I've attached a copy of the whole newspaper with the date, and a zoomed in copy of the article on the 3 women. Any further information is much appreciated.
Click to expand...

I had come across these other missing ladies several years back but could never find any follow-up articles about them. I think the cases sound very similar and I may have mentioned them upthread somewhere but this thread has become too long for me to have time right now to search for anything I might have posted about these other missing ladies. It would be great if someone could find further information on them. These disappearances may all be related. The same person may have been stalking women at Georgia malls.
 
I came across another thread on Websleuths regarding another female who also disappeared under similar circumstances that Carlene Tengelsen disappeared.

The other missing female is Dorothy Delilah Scofield, 14, who disappeared on July 22, 1976.

Dorothy Scofield and her mother left their home on July 22, 1976 in Ocala, Florida. Dorothy and her mother had agreed to meet later at a designated location in the mall while Dorothy's mother was renewing her drivers license.

Dorothy had retured a pair of sandals at a department store and was last seen at approximately 2:00 p.m. at the mall.

Dorothy never met her mother at the designated location at the mall and was never seen again.

Among the similarities I noticed between the disappearances of Carlene Tengelsen and Dorothy Scofield are that both teens were last seen during the afternoon at a shopping mall.

Both teens disappeared during the midweek.

Carlene Tengelsen disappeared on Wednesday June 21, 1972.

Dorothy Scofield disappeared on Thursday July 22, 1976.

I noticed that the distance between Macon, Georgia and Ocala, Florida is 288 miles and Interstate 75 also goes thru both areas.

I suspect that a serial predator had been stalking teens and women at shopping malls.

I also suspect that the disappearances may all be related.

Dorothy Delilah Scofield

Https://charleyproject.org/cases/dorothy-delilah-scofield

Dorothy Delilah Scofield - 363DFFL

The Doe Network: Case File 363DFFL

Dorothy Delila Scofield

Https://missingchildren.wikia.org/Dorothy_Delilah_Scofield

Dorothy Schofield

FL - FL - Dorothy Schofield, 14, Ocala, 22 July 1976
 
Man I remember looking at this case years ago, but I can't find my posts.

I even asked NamUs if it was this unidentified case but never heard anything after so I guess she was ruled out. Trying to remember some of the reasons I wondered about her:

upload_2021-7-19_20-31-57.png

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Note that first it has the unidentified height as 5' 1" - 5' 7" but then below shows the girl found was 5' 2 - 5' 9" (Carlene was 5' 9"). Brown shoulder length hair (check), wavy (check - Carlene ironed hers to be straight). No braces mentioned, but scattered teeth found - were braces removed?

I realized that the unidentified was found in Florida, but Carlene's father went to Florida that day. Did she go with him?

(Thinking about it now some of the other questions and comments I had might have poofed my post back then, so I won't go any further <wink>).

If you haven't read this blog article by the senior staff writer for the Macon Telegraph it's very interesting.

Joe Kovac Jr.: The Miracles of Loss
 
There's been some discussion earlier in the thread about killer Paul John Knowles and whether or not he was in prison at the time of Carlene's disappearance--based on a few newspaper articles, I believe that he was incarcerated. If I'm understanding the timeline correctly, he served three years from 1968-1971 for attempted burglary, was briefly released, but then was rearrested the same year on similar charges. He was resentenced, but then escaped in November 1972. He was recaptured three weeks later. With this timeline, he was almost definitely imprisoned when she disappeared.
 
https://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article262630897.html

There is perhaps only one thing more mystifying about how a 16-year-old girl vanished without a trace after stopping by a Macon shopping mall on her way to pick up her younger sister one summer day 50 years ago this week: how the police barely investigated.

The disappearance of Carlene Tengelsen was a missing-persons case that slipped through the cracks.

It was 1972, a time when young people sometimes ventured away or ran away or went off hitchhiking in search of themselves. The cops saw little reason to track them.

More at link.
 
50 years today. I don't know why Carlene's case is one of the top two always in my head. I have no connection, I wasn't even born until a decade later. Maybe subconsciously my mind wants to keep her alive somehow. Her family has certainly done that, thankfully. She just doesn't deserve to be lost to time. We'll never know a thing, sadly. If her remains are found there would at least be that, but that's unlikely to lead anywhere else.

"To live in the hearts of those left behind is not to die."
 
Though I never knew Carlene, her case is very special to me and I think of her every June 21st and many times throughout the year. I still hope someday there will be answers.
 
I took a "virtual" drive on Google Maps from her home (handprint still visible) to where the shopping center was. Much of the neighborhood was probably the same fifty years ago. After pulling out on the main roads there's definitely a ton that's probably different. So many trees and probably many more then. Somewhat haunting to trace what was likely her last time driving.

What is nice is that both a Facebook and Instagram account regarding her disappearance have finally popped up. Her sister Joanette is involved, if not behind the creation of them. She is not forgotten.
 
Hollybeth328 said:
My name is Holly, and I'm from Athens, GA, about 2 1/2 hours North of Macon. I'm a criminology student and currently researching the Carlene Tengelsen case as a side project. I requested any newspaper articles from the Washington Memorial Library archives in Macon. Only 2 articles were found, but I believe I have made a discovery. One of the articles sent to me was an article on three missing Macon women, including Carlene Tengelsen. The other two women were Mary "Maggie" Shaw and Peggy Chapman along with Peggy's 4 year old daughter Ruby Kirshner. These 4 all went missing within a month and a half of each other. Carlene and Peggy/Ruby all went missing from Westgate Mall. Carlene on June 22, 1972 and Peggy/Ruby July 22, 1972 . Mary went missing from South Plaza Shopping Center on June 5, 1972. Both of these places are on the same street (Pio Nono Ave). Westgate Mall and South Plaza Shopping center are only (according to google maps) 1.3 miles from each other. This is very strange to me and seems like there's a possible connection. We know Carlene has never been found, but I can find no other information anywhere on the internet of whether Peggy/Ruby/Mary were found. They are not mentioned anywhere on the internet or in missing persons databases I've searched. I hoping someone here can answer this. I've attached a copy of the whole newspaper with the date, and a zoomed in copy of the article on the 3 women. Any further information is much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Update: These women were found alive and well. Both cases were domestic incidents and of no relation to Carlene’s disappearance. Carlene is still missing. Help us find her Facebook.com/wherescarlene
 
Nancy Drew RN said:
There's been some discussion earlier in the thread about killer Paul John Knowles and whether or not he was in prison at the time of Carlene's disappearance--based on a few newspaper articles, I believe that he was incarcerated. If I'm understanding the timeline correctly, he served three years from 1968-1971 for attempted burglary, was briefly released, but then was rearrested the same year on similar charges. He was resentenced, but then escaped in November 1972. He was recaptured three weeks later. With this timeline, he was almost definitely imprisoned when she disappeared.
Click to expand...
He was absolutely confirmed to be in prison when she disappeared. This seems to be a rumor that just will not go away. Paul John Knowles was an evil man, who killed lots of innocent victims, but Carlene was not one of them.
 
Yasmin Anwar, "Friend seeks Hayward girl lost 23 years," Oakland Tribune, 31 May 1994, A11.
Friend seeks Hayward girl lost 23 years_-min.jpg
But Hayward police are dusting off Eastin's missing-person file after hearing that a young woman's body found in a remote part of Los Angeles in 1971 might be her.

But the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office said it cannot find records for the cremated corpse, returning the investigation to limbo and infuriating Judy Ruiz Verhoek of San Leandro, whose unrelenting desire to find her school friend is keeping the investigation half-alive.

"We want to know what happened to Christine so we can finally have some feeling of closure. Somebody out there knows something, and they have to come forward," said Verhoek. She keeps a dossier on Eastin's disappearance.

[...]

Hayward Detective Frank Daley reopened Eastin's case in January after Verhoek called him on the 23rd anniversary of her schoolmate's disappearance and asked him not to give up.

Verhoek said Hayward detectives and the state Department of Justice have occasionally become irritated with her doggedness.

[...]

For Verhoek, this was frustrating. "It wasn't a case of (Eastin) bolting or leaving behind a big problem. We all think foul play might have been involved. But she was my friend, and I need to know that everything possible has been done to find her," she said.

[...]

Eastin's father died when she was 11, and she lived with her mother, Dorothy, and older sister Victoria, in a small house on Hayward's Joyce Street.

"She was a real little Christian, always full of energy, and sewing her own clothes," said sister Victoria Cordova, who lives in Idaho.

[...]

On the evening of Monday, Jan. 18, 1971, Eastin borrowed the blue Ford Maverick of her ex-boyfriend, George Sponsel, and went shopping for boots at Mervyn's with her girlfriend, Sandy McBride.

She had promised to wash the car before returning it later that night to a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant where Sponsel was employed.

After buying the boots, she dropped off McBride, went home and showered. About 11 p.m., she drove to a self-service Chevron car wash at 25400 Mission Blvd.

"She was naive. She used to walk home late at night from my house and say, 'I'm not afraid of anything or anybody,'" McBride said. "It wasn't unusual for her to be washing the car alone late at night."

Around midnight, as a thick fog blanketed Mission, Eastin was nowhere to be seen.

Sponsel, tired of waiting for Eastin at the Jack in the Box, called her house. She wasn't home. Her mother then called around inquiring about her daughter's whereabouts.

When dawn broke and the fog began to burn off, there was still no sign of Eastin.

The Maverick was found, locked, at the car wash. Eastin's purse and scarf were on the seat.

[...]

"We did get reports about people possibly seeing her hitchhiking, going toward Reno, but slowly everything fizzled because there wasn't enough to go on, and we didn't have the money to get a private detective," Cordova said. "It aged my mother 20 years."
 
citizen_sleuth said:
Yasmin Anwar, "Friend seeks Hayward girl lost 23 years," Oakland Tribune, 31 May 1994, A11.
View attachment 394614
But Hayward police are dusting off Eastin's missing-person file after hearing that a young woman's body found in a remote part of Los Angeles in 1971 might be her.

But the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office said it cannot find records for the cremated corpse, returning the investigation to limbo and infuriating Judy Ruiz Verhoek of San Leandro, whose unrelenting desire to find her school friend is keeping the investigation half-alive.

"We want to know what happened to Christine so we can finally have some feeling of closure. Somebody out there knows something, and they have to come forward," said Verhoek. She keeps a dossier on Eastin's disappearance.

[...]

Hayward Detective Frank Daley reopened Eastin's case in January after Verhoek called him on the 23rd anniversary of her schoolmate's disappearance and asked him not to give up.

Verhoek said Hayward detectives and the state Department of Justice have occasionally become irritated with her doggedness.

[...]

For Verhoek, this was frustrating. "It wasn't a case of (Eastin) bolting or leaving behind a big problem. We all think foul play might have been involved. But she was my friend, and I need to know that everything possible has been done to find her," she said.

[...]

Eastin's father died when she was 11, and she lived with her mother, Dorothy, and older sister Victoria, in a small house on Hayward's Joyce Street.

"She was a real little Christian, always full of energy, and sewing her own clothes," said sister Victoria Cordova, who lives in Idaho.

[...]

On the evening of Monday, Jan. 18, 1971, Eastin borrowed the blue Ford Maverick of her ex-boyfriend, George Sponsel, and went shopping for boots at Mervyn's with her girlfriend, Sandy McBride.

She had promised to wash the car before returning it later that night to a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant where Sponsel was employed.

After buying the boots, she dropped off McBride, went home and showered. About 11 p.m., she drove to a self-service Chevron car wash at 25400 Mission Blvd.

"She was naive. She used to walk home late at night from my house and say, 'I'm not afraid of anything or anybody,'" McBride said. "It wasn't unusual for her to be washing the car alone late at night."

Around midnight, as a thick fog blanketed Mission, Eastin was nowhere to be seen.

Sponsel, tired of waiting for Eastin at the Jack in the Box, called her house. She wasn't home. Her mother then called around inquiring about her daughter's whereabouts.

When dawn broke and the fog began to burn off, there was still no sign of Eastin.

The Maverick was found, locked, at the car wash. Eastin's purse and scarf were on the seat.

[...]

"We did get reports about people possibly seeing her hitchhiking, going toward Reno, but slowly everything fizzled because there wasn't enough to go on, and we didn't have the money to get a private detective," Cordova said. "It aged my mother 20 years."
Click to expand...
Was this meant for the Christine Eastin thread? If so then you are in the wrong thread. I get how the names can be mixed up. They do sound similar. Here's the intended thread:
www.websleuths.com

CA - CA - Christine Eastin, 19, Hayward, 18 Jan 1971

I just happen to be in a politics room on IRC and we were talking about Unsolved Mysteries. This person mentioned that their friend has been missing since 1971. They went to high school with her. Her parents are dead; her sister and friend are the only one still looking for her. Working to get...
www.websleuths.com www.websleuths.com
 
Hollybeth328 said:
My name is Holly, and I'm from Athens, GA, about 2 1/2 hours North of Macon. I'm a criminology student and currently researching the Carlene Tengelsen case as a side project. I requested any newspaper articles from the Washington Memorial Library archives in Macon. Only 2 articles were found, but I believe I have made a discovery. One of the articles sent to me was an article on three missing Macon women, including Carlene Tengelsen. The other two women were Mary "Maggie" Shaw and Peggy Chapman along with Peggy's 4 year old daughter Ruby Kirshner. These 4 all went missing within a month and a half of each other. Carlene and Peggy/Ruby all went missing from Westgate Mall. Carlene on June 22, 1972 and Peggy/Ruby July 22, 1972 . Mary went missing from South Plaza Shopping Center on June 5, 1972. Both of these places are on the same street (Pio Nono Ave). Westgate Mall and South Plaza Shopping center are only (according to google maps) 1.3 miles from each other. This is very strange to me and seems like there's a possible connection. We know Carlene has never been found, but I can find no other information anywhere on the internet of whether Peggy/Ruby/Mary were found. They are not mentioned anywhere on the internet or in missing persons databases I've searched. I hoping someone here can answer this. I've attached a copy of the whole newspaper with the date, and a zoomed in copy of the article on the 3 women. Any further information is much appreciated.
Click to expand...
We can rule out Peggy and Ruby as being possible victims. Those two went to live with Peggy's former husband in Florida.

Jul 28, 1972, page 3 - The Macon Telegraph at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com

View the digital scanned newspaper from The Macon Telegraph dated Jul 28, 1972, page 3.
www.newspapers.com www.newspapers.com
Peggy Chapman found. -

Unfortunately I can find no clear evidence on the safe return of Maggie Shaw on newspaper archives or ancestry. The articles just seem to stop in July 1972 without resolution. If someone were to handle her case, my guess would be the Bibb County Sheriffs Office. To me, her disappearance seems strange and maybe suspicious. Her car was found 5 days later in the mall parking lot. You don't just leave your car there after a day at the mall.
 
Last edited:
SimsGuy67 said:
We can rule out Peggy and Ruby as being possible victims. Those two went to live with Peggy's former husband in Florida.

Jul 28, 1972, page 3 - The Macon Telegraph at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com

View the digital scanned newspaper from The Macon Telegraph dated Jul 28, 1972, page 3.
www.newspapers.com www.newspapers.com
Peggy Chapman found. -

Unfortunately I can find no clear evidence on the safe return of Maggie Shaw on newspaper archives or ancestry. The articles just seem to stop in July 1972 without resolution. If someone were to handle her case, my guess would be the Bibb County Sheriffs Office. To me, her disappearance seems strange and maybe suspicious. Her car was found 5 days later in the mall parking lot. You don't just leave your car there after a day at the mall.
Click to expand...
 
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